The official website for Marianne Knightly's fictional country of Valleria.

Progress Not Perfection

April 7, 2018

2 Comments

Which is better? Progress or perfection?

We can all guess the answer, right? Well, my brain was having issues with that Saturday.

I have been afraid to fail in the past (one of the reasons I waited so long before I started writing), and I would often use perfection as an excuse. Writing, then revising, then re-revising and even re-re-revising until I wanted to pull my hair out. Saturday, as I worked my way through my long to-do-list, I found myself falling into the old habit of wanting perfection instead of being happy with the progress I’ve made.

Case in point: writing Seaside Valleria 3. My goal was 2000 words for the weekend (or 1000 words a day). I wrote 800 words on Saturday which should make me happy (it was progress, after all). Instead I focused on the other 200 words I didn’t write (I was often a glass half-empty kind of gal). Since my health has changed, I’ve had to change how to do things, including write. The progress I used to make (in one epic session, I wrote nearly 9000 words in one day) means that I still struggle to see 800 words as a success. But it IS success, and I still have Sunday to make my goal for the weekend.

Focus on the positive! It’s something I don’t do nearly enough. Making progress towards a goal is success, even if you didn’t achieve that goal yet. I’m going to continue to remind myself of this as the next few crazy months move along.

Progress is better than perfection, and progress is success! Say it with me!

Are you working towards a goal? Do you struggle to see progress as success like me? Let me know in the comments!

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